Friday, December 19,
2014, 6:03 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Abide In Him.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 19:7-14 (NASB).
The Word
The
law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The
testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The
precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The
commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The
fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The
judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
They
are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter
also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover,
by them Your servant is warned;
In
keeping them there is great reward.
What does the Word of God mean to you? I can remember when I
was young that on one particular day my father saw me open my Bible, and he asked
me what I was looking up. For him, I believe, it was head knowledge and
something to argue about or to dissect. I suspect that he was not alone in his
hunger for knowledge, though, nor would he be now as I see many people who find
great pleasure out of arguing theology (words) with others.
When I was young we also spent much time in scripture
memory, but I am not sure then that I truly understood what the words meant,
though those scriptures have remained with me to this day. We also did Bible
quizzing, and so we had to memorize whole passages of scripture so that we
could quiz with other teenagers. Again, I am not so sure that I really
understood what I was memorizing, though, or that I really knew what to do with
it other than use it to answer questions in a quiz, but I am sure the word was
planted in my heart.
I did read my Bible and I prayed, because I knew that is what
I was supposed to do, and I was beginning to learn what it said and how it was
to be applied to my life, but I don’t believe it really became personal to me
until after I had my first child, and until I had in my possession an English
translation which I could understand. I was probably in my mid to late 20’s (40
years ago) when the Word of God really became alive to me and I began to hear
God speak his words to my heart personally and practically, as applied to my
life.
Ever since then, the word of God has been God/Jesus right
there with me talking with me, like a friend speaks with another friend. It has
been God speaking words of hope, encouragement, counsel, correction,
instruction, conviction, comfort and healing to my heart. It has been him
giving me guidance and direction for each day, answering my questions, and giving
me insight into his thoughts and feelings. When I am down, his word lifts me
up. When I am feeling empty and lifeless, his word gives me purpose and meaning
for my life. When I begin to feel afraid, his word strengthens me and gives me
what I need to persevere. When I am sad, it comforts me and I am filled with
joy.
When I am lacking wisdom, from the Word I gain
understanding. When I need discernment, through the Word I am given insight. I
have had many “Aha” moments when the lights turned on inside my head and I saw something
I never saw before, or at least that I never saw quite in that light before. I
learn godly living and holiness from the Word. Sometimes God warns me about
going in a particular direction or about a wrong attitude about something. Yet,
no matter what the message God has for me for any particular day, what is a
sure thing is that he is speaking to me, his word is true, that I can depend on
it, and that in obeying his word there is great spiritual reward. God’s words
to me are very precious. They are his love letter to his bride. And, His Word
is the best love letter ever!
Pleasing You
Who
can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Also
keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let
them not rule over me;
Then
I will be blameless,
And
I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
Let
the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be
acceptable in Your sight,
O
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
When we spend time with God/Jesus each day in his word,
these times should be intimate between us and our Lord. These should be the
times when we truly get to know him better, desire more of him, and from which
we go out and obey what his word teaches us. We should feel his arms around us,
and him gently speaking his words in our ears and into our hearts. We should
sense his love and his nurturing of us, and his watch and care over us. In
these times of intimacy with our Lord we should grow in our love for him. And,
as we grow we should desire even more of him and his word.
Also during these intimate times with our Lord in prayer and
in his word we should examine our hearts, confess (repent of) any sin he
pinpoints in our lives and also pray that the Lord keep us from willful sin
(premeditated). This means, though, that we have to be willing to have him show
us how we are playing with sin or with temptation and how we are feeding sin or
how we are opening ourselves up to temptation by the things we allow into our
minds and hearts each day. For instance, we are not going to get victory over
lust if we are spending every evening watching TV shows or movies which entertain
us with sexual promiscuity or with sensuality. If we want to be satisfied with
our own husbands and not have straying thoughts to other men, we need to stop
watching romantic movies which often involve romantic affairs between people
who are married to other people.
Spending time in the Word and in prayer each day should
never be something we do just so we can say we did it and can check it off our
list. We should long for these times with our Lord like a young man or a young
woman longs to be with and talk with his or her boyfriend or girlfriend. And,
we should want to get to know him, find out what he likes and what he doesn’t
like, and then we should live our lives to please him in all that we do, in the
power and working of the Spirit within us, as we cooperate fully with that
work. In other words, if we are having QTs with the Lord each day, but then we
are going around and we are doing just the opposite of what his word teaches
us, then we are just like that man who looked at himself in the mirror, but
then walked away and forgot what he looked like.
The Word of God will only become precious to us when we
decide to do what it says, and when we decide to listen to the Spirit within us
and heed his counsel to us, even when we don’t feel like it, or even or most
especially when we don’t have it within ourselves to do it in our own strength,
but we must entirely depend upon the strength of the Lord in order to obey.
I want to live my life pleasing to my Lord in all that I do,
even if it means giving up things I may enjoy doing or having, if those things
are hindering my walk of faith, if they are distracting me and are keeping me
from doing the will of God, and/or if they are leading me into sin. I want my
thoughts, my attitudes, my behaviors and my words to be pleasing in God’s
sight, because I love him; because he is my Lord, my Savior, and my first love,
and because he is my very best friend.
Abide in Him / An
Original Work / July 31, 2013
Based off Ps. 27:14; Is. 40:31; Jn. 14-15
If you wait for the
Lord,
Put your hope now in
Him,
He will give you His
strength
And endurance within.
He will renew your
strength,
So you will not lose
heart.
You will soar on wings
like eagles,
Never depart.
“If you abide in Me,
And My words live in
you,
You will walk with Me
daily
And follow what’s
true.
I will live now in you;
Give you peace now
within,
If you obey My
teachings
And turn from your
sin.”
“If you listen to Me,
And do all that I say,
I will give you My
comfort;
Be with you always.
I will heal all your
pain;
Life with Me now
you’ll gain,
If in fellowship with
Me
You always remain.”
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